NEW WINDSOR — Rep. Nan Hayworth and Orange County Executive Ed Diana led other officials in calling Thursday for an end to red tape they say is holding up the repair and rebuilding of the Forge Hill Road Bridge.

The news conference was held on the span near the 50-foot gap left in the roadway when the Moodna Creek — swollen by Hurricane Irene — washed out the bridge just over a year ago. Tropical Storm Lee added to the damage on Sept. 8.

“It should not take a year to repair an existing bridge,” Hayworth said.

Hayworth said red tape at the state level, and to some extent at the federal level, is holding up the work.

About $90 million in Federal Highway Administration funds was approved for the state, and about $1.6 million would go toward the estimated $2 million Forge Hill Road Bridge fix. The county, which owns the bridge, would provide the remaining $400,000.

Diana said the county on Wednesday signed an agreement with the state that could allow a consultant to be hired and begin planning the work — maybe in as soon as a week once federal and state officials sign off on it.

But Chuck Lee, the county's commissioner of public works, said they're still looking at another two and a half years to get the work completed, which is a year less than previous estimates.

“We hope we can shorten (the time frame) even more,” said Lee. The county is pushing to waive time-consuming requirements such as a traffic study and a state historic preservation study, he said.

New Windsor Supervisor George Green can tell anyone who will listen about the traffic impact of the bridge being closed.

He said it's diverted a lot of traffic to Caesar's Lane, which parallels Forge Hill Road and also links routes 9W and 94. But unlike Forge Hill Road, it doesn't have a traffic signal at either end.